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Clara Grosz

Winner for the 12-15 Category

"For me, the best part of the competition was being able to freely explore the potential for improvement in my area through a wide range of media, from maps to sketches. I enjoyed thinking about how to overcome current challenges by regenerating local spaces to better place our community on the path to sustainable development."

Clara Grosz (aged 14) from North London Collegiate School, London

Preventing harm to local ecosystems

In the summer months, Hampstead Heath becomes polluted with waste from picnics and areas of land become eroded due to large numbers of people visiting. This is harmful to the local ecosystem and dangerous for pets. To solve this, on summer weekends I would introduce an entry tariff to non-residents of Hampstead and Highgate and reduce the car park capacity, thereby narrowing the amount of visitors. The money made could then be contributed towards regrowth and care of local trees and preservations of wildlife, which would make the Heath more resilient towards greater numbers of people in the future.

Improving Hampstead Community Garden

For the Hampstead Community Garden, I propose to replace overgrown plants with a vegetable patch for the neighbourhood to use and take care of and place a bench here. So the Oriel Place still remains safe at night, I would lock the mini-garden from 5pm-7am. This would make Hampstead more sustainable as it means that we can be more self-sufficient.

Ideas on reducing pollution

I propose to make room for a bicycle lane where there is a large pavement on the shaded red area on the map. I think this would get people to take initiative and bike to work or school while at the same time making it safer to do so. If more people cycle, then we can reduce pollution on A502 and the Royal Free area, making Hampstead a safer, more secure place for future generations.